Flesh and Blood
by warscars
Summary: Daryl and Meryl Dixon return to their hometown to find that their father paid the ultimate price for committing unforgivable actions. Left in his wake is a young girl. Daryl decides it is his responsibility to make sure this child has everything she needs to grow up well. Once she's 16 and an unknown epidemic invades her family's odd life she must adapt to survive. Warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings: Language, Violence, Zombie gore, Mention of Rape**

 **Possibly more warnings to add later but they will be mentioned in the chapter.**

 **Story-wide Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead**

 _It was a very hot day in Georgia when the two Dixon brothers, Meryl and Daryl, had returned to their old home town to relax at their favorite hang out. While they usually drifted just about anywhere, somehow they always managed to ended up back here. The place had probably been there since before either of them were born and had definitely seen better days. It was dark and seedy but felt like home to the two men. Most of their old friends had moved on from the town but one or two of the patrons gave them a wave as they made their way to sit at the bar._

 _"Well well, if it ain't the Dixon boys. Bout time you showed your faces back round here." The bartender, a 50 something year old woman who still dressed like a teenager rasped as though she had chain smoked since she was 11. The usual smile she wore for her customers straightened into a thin line and her arms were braced stiffly on the inside counter of the bar. The two ordered and got their beers but not without the glasses hitting the wood of the bar with a loud 'clunk'. May seemed to have an ax to grind._

 _"How you doin' May?" Meryl asked in a far easier tone than he usually did, "Don look so pleased."_

 _"Me? I'm Fine. Just fine, aint me I'm worried bout though." Her face looked grim._

 _Condensation gathered and slid down the side of the cold glass as Daryl picked it up and asked, " Wha's the problem, May?"_

 _"Don't go play'in stupid with me, boys. Ya finally back to grab yer sister now? It's the least you could do for the poor lil thing." she said in a sympathetic tone._

 _The two exchanged a confused look, "Ain't got no sister, May. Must be gettin up there in years" He said with a chuckle but was cut off as May glared, then reached under the bar. She shuffled through some old newspapers then slapped one down hard on the bar between the two. The headline read "Man killed by child- deemed self defense"_

 _Daryl Picked it up to look over the article while Meryl looked confused and angry at the bartender, "What happen?"_

 _"Yur Father raped some poor woman and left her to rot," Daryl and Meryl looked at her sharply before she continued, "But she died after she birthed the baby. Stupid woman put yur father's name on the certificate and they gave the kid to him."_

 _Daryl was pissed and looking sidelong at his brother saw just as angry as he was. May continued, "Hear kid's real clever, found yur daddy's gun, aimed and fired one was all torn up, " She tapped the newspaper, "in there says she shown signs a bein beaten, cut, scraped and," May clenched her jaw, "sexual abuse." Meryl and Daryl looked gobsmacked, not knowing how to handle this information, "so it summed to self defense. Girl's at the orphanage next town over."She took a deep breath,"Gunna go get er then?"_

 _There was a tone of finality in her voice as she pretended to wiped the bar with a rag and stared the two down. For once in their lives, both Dixon brothers were speechless. All Daryl could think was that that man had ruined yet another person's life._

The air smelled hyper sterilized, the incessant beeping around them and in the halls, yells of demands from doctors and nurses were muffled by the thick wooden door. Once again Daryl Dixon found himself slumped in a chair in the hospital room with his young sister, Flynn, who had been jumped on her way home from a convenience store. The lanky teenage redhead had hair and clothing styled just like her brothers but in shades of black and was accosted on the street fairly often because of her boyish appearance and awkward stature. She couldn't try to blend in, her hair was short, spiky and an almost florescent shade of orange. She always fought back as her brothers had taught her but being outnumbered didn't help her success rate. She did win one n one's easily and was very fit physically thanks to her brothers' bringing her up but you can't win them all.

There were stitches on gruesome looking cut on the right side of Flynn's face, it started on her forehead, above her eyebrow, rounded her eye and stopped in a big curve on her cheek like a backwards ','. Daryl's patience was running out as he tapped on the arm of the chair. The doctor had stepped out to get some bandage and that was an hour ago.

"Daryl," Flynn said in a small, low voice as she peered at him with a nervous look, sitting hunched over on the exam table, "again, I'm really sorry."

"Ain't no need, kid." He said, getting up. He ruffled her hair and she let slip a little smile, "Not your fault.". Daryl grabbed a medical glove, took a deep breath and blew it up like a balloon. When he tied it, he gave her the middle finger via inflated glove. She laughed and he gave her the balloon, which she fiddled with while he opened the door and looked around, there were no nurses or doctors as far as he could see. At some point it had gone silent. "This ain't right." His eyes narrowed. He went back in and decided to take matters into his own hands, there was plenty of medical tape but no bandage, not even paper towels, he saw while he quickly rummaged through the drawers and cabinets.

"What are you doing?" Flynn looked at him curiously.

"Gettin us atta here." He said, still searching, "Goddamn." He kicked one of the cabinets in frustration. A scream erupted on a floor above them and the two looked up in unison. Chaos seemed to be breaking loose over their heads.

She got up quickly to help, wobbled a little dizzily but Daryl kept her on her feet with a hand on her arm and let her help. He had taken her to a child center weekly and they did tests that deemed her something of a genius. He knew she could help him figure something out to keep infection off the cut even if she did have a concussion. She grabbed some sanitizer and dabbed it lightly on the cut, careful to keep it out of her eyes. Then Daryl offered the big roll of medical tape. She stared at it for a minute and looked around, then her eyes widened and she went to work measuring strips of tape then rubbing the adhesive off the tape where her cut would touch it using the strong sanitizer which made sections of the tape no more than thick paper. She then applied it with the help of a mirror next to the cabinets.

About 3 minutes later, she was sealing off the sides carefully when the two heard the stomping of feet, gun shots and screams echo through the hall. Daryl and Flynn's eyes widened when they looked at each other, Daryl held her behind him as he peeked into the hall again. What looked like soldiers or SWAT was rounding up the patients on the wall opposite them, their room was at the corner of the corridor. Suddenly the soldiers shot every person dead. He closed the door quietly and saw Flynn shaking, "Whats going on."

"You don wanna know. How we gunna get atta here?" he looked outside again but in a smaller crack, the soldiers were clearing the dead patients. Heavy footfalls were getting closer to their room, slamming every other exam room door open in the process chanting 'clear'. Daryl shut the door and was ready to fight when Flynn moved him aside and looked at the room from the point of view with a quick scan. First she quickly shoved the medical supplies back into the cabinets and closed them so it looked like they were never there. Then she ripped some longer tape off her face and ripped it down the middle then went to the space behind the exam table and put the tape slanted on the floor to indicate the space that would go unseen from the point she had stood.

She grabbed Daryl, who went along with it but didn't quite get it; she stuck him in the space and he just barely fit. When he saw the tape and he looked back he couldn't see the door, he got it, "And you,"

She cut him off by sliding into the cabinet adjacent to him with the sink's plumbing being the only thing in it. As soon as the cabinet door was totally closed, the door slammed open. Her breath hitched. It felt like forever while they scanned the room but eventually she heard them.

"Clear!"

She let out the breath she was holding and waited a bit before she heard the stomping go down the hall and Daryl slip out of his hiding place. As she crawled out of the cabinet he whispered, "Nice one." and helped her up. The door was still open but the soldiers were rounding up the patients down the hall "We got a chance, take my hand and do not let go, got me?" He said, looking her dead in the eyes, she nodded shakily and grabbed his hand. Thankfully they were only on the first floor, so they silently crept out of the room as though they were on another hunting trip. Once the soldiers were out of sight and they were hidden by the nurses station Flynn noticed a flashing notice on the computer next to her, "QUARANTINE"

"Daryl," She said, her voice breaking a little, "it's a quarantine, the front doors won't open."

"Shit." He tried to think of a way out and peeked around the corner at the front door, Flynn was searching the rest of the nurses station, letting go of his hand lightly. She spotted a man hiding under the desk, he was shaking like a leaf, "Come with us. We can get out." he nodded.

She went back to Daryl with the man behind her, "Daryl, he's coming with us."

"Flynn," He growled

"It'll be fine, is the entrance clear?"

"No, four guards."

"Ok..." She had a distant look, then tried to break the wooden shelf off with her elbow, achieving nothing,"Ow" she said quietly.

Daryl shook his head at her and bent over, punching the wood apart and off the desk, the sound muffled by more gunshots, he waved it at Flynn, "Whats this for now?"

"Ok." She was still shaking, "The nurses alarm should sound through the whole building."

"Should."

"Yeah?" She looked unsure, "Anyway, the guards will scatter and if one comes this way, Daryl, hit him with that, ok?"

He nodded reluctantly as his sister crawled back to the station, 'if i were a fire alarm... There!'

She peeked behind her, no one, then went for it. She lifted the clear cover grabbed the lever and pulled. It would have been like all hell was breaking loose, if it hadn't already had.

"Here he comes." She heard Daryl say before there was a hard crunch muffled by the alarm. The three ran to the entrance and Flynn didn't notice Daryl take the gun from the unconscious guard before he grabbed her arm again.

As the two approached the door, which wouldn't open like she had said, she saw something in the hall to her right, there were three people, one on the floor, two others on their knees were ripping him apart and eating him. She was frozen in her spot, eyes as wide as they could be. Daryl yelled, "MOVE" barely audible with the alarm, but when Flynn just stood there. He shoved her behind him and quickly saw what she was gaping at before he shot the glass doors. He kept hold of her arm and they ran out the shattered entrance with the man a little behind them.

Daryl had parked on the street and the hospital was barricaded but to the side was a thick cover of shrubbery on top of a wall since the hospital was on a hill. Flynn spotted the opening first and when she moved, so did Daryl. She immediately got down on one knee leaning on the wall; it was just a little shorter than Daryl, he would be able to pull himself up, then her.

He tucked the gun into the back of his jeans, then gently stepped on her knee and lifted himself up; he reached down and grabbed his sister, tossing her into the bushes they were hiding in. They started heading out in a crouch until they heard yelling. The two of them were thoroughly covered by the plants around them, but when they looked around, they saw the police shoot the man they thought they saved in the head. Daryl ripped Flynn out of her stooper and dragged her through the garden and to the police free street a block or two down. Meryle was on his motorcycle parked behind Daryl's truck, he must have just gotten there, "Hey kiddo, I hate to see the other guy." he chuckled but noticed the two were extremely shaken, even Daryl.

"What's up Darylina, can't take care'a our lil sister."

"SHUT UP Meryl." Flynn yelled, her voice cracking, she was looking at him with extremely wide eyes, clutching her stomach and shaking visibly.

The brothers were surprised at her uncharacteristic behavior and Meryl was actually showing concern, "What the fuck happen in there?" he asked Daryl, who was leaning on his truck.

He looked up and shook his head, "Dunno man, police, military, goin through the halls shootin all the patients but before we got out, saw this guy on the floor bein pulled apart eaten by two other people."

At that point Flynn fell to her knees and vomited on to the sidewalk. After a while Meryl got up from his bike and handed her an old rag then patted her on the head. Flynn wiped her mouth, spat in disgust and looked up, "C-check the radio?" She felt like her legs had turned into overcooked pasta.

Daryl got out his keys, started the truck up and turned on the radio, usually they rode without it. Immediately the high screech of the emergency broadcast system sounded. The mechanical voice was urging the public to head to the refugee center in Atlanta or stay inside their homes and that there is an unknown virus epidemic that spreads through a bite from the infected; it was spreading very quickly. Flynn was getting a grip on her breathing and Daryl turned the radio down to a murmur, Meryl leaned against the motorcycle.

"Guess we're goin to Atlanta," Meryl said, moving to start the bike but stopped when Flynn held up a hand, head down and eyes closed.

She cleared her throat then said, "If we're going you shouldn't ride that, it's too easy for you to get bit." There was a rasp in her voice but back to it's usual reasonable, if quiet, tone.

Daryl nodded at his brother. Meryl didn't like it but he agreed. While her brothers lifted the bike into the truck, she got up slowly. The shaking didn't stop but reduced significantly, she went to the truck and grabbed a half empty bottle of water. After throughly washing out her mouth and eating a mint that was hidden in the back of the glove compartment she was feeling better. Daryl handed her the guard's gun and she immediately felt more secure. As they entered the truck Flynn steadily talked herself out of being disturbed by what she had seen; it was easier considering what she's seen, and done, on hunting trips with Daryl but the human factor made her stomach lurch.

So they headed to Atlanta, agreeing to stay on back roads. It was a long drive so they drove fast, faster at first to get away from that hospital. As the distance grew between them, the engine covered the military fire and screaming from victims of the infected people escaping through the shattered glass doors. The computers were still blinking QUARANTINE.


	2. Chapter 2

_"This is it." Daryl said, looking at the scrap of paper given to them by May. She made sure they had it whether they liked it or not._

 _It was about early afternoon and the two brothers were standing in front of their vehicles looking up at the building. They stared like the it was some strange creature planted in the middle of the nicely manicured neighborhood. Obviously they were hesitant to enter. There was a playground wrapping around the front, left and back of the building, the kids were playing loudly and one or two were looking at the men through the chain link fence._

 _"If we keep standin here, someones gunna call the cops." Daryl muttered to Meryl, who grunted with a frown._

 _Eventually they mustered up the wherewithal to walk into the building. This granted them a crowd of little ones pressing up against the fence, watching them walk and whispering amongst themselves. The two tried to ignore the fuss they were creating and kept going. No turning back now._

 _Inside, the building looked ancient with a lot of dark wood, a narrow staircase slightly to the right of the entrance. On the bottom of it's ornately curled banister was a sign pointing right saying 'Info'. To the left was a corridor with two rooms open with large archways but there was a man with a name-tag monitoring them. When he noticed them he pointed for them to go right which was another open archway into a small waiting room and an office door with frosted glass but nothing written on it._

 _The room was empty and Meryl sat sprawled out on a chair while Daryl leaned against the wall next to the archway, arms crossed and chewing on his lower lip. It took a while but eventually the door opened and a 'nice' looking couple were leaving, a small toddler in the woman's arms. A woman behind them with tightly bound blond hair and an unnecessarily large smile motioned for the next 'customers' to come into the office._

 _"Welcome gentlemen! I'm Gina Stori." She moved to shake each of their hands; it was noted she had a vice grip and a piercing stare, she was not someone to mess with, "What can I help you with?" she said closing the door and moving to sit behind the desk._

 _The Dixons sat across from her and Meryl spoke up first, "Rumor has it you got our lil sister. I'm Meryl Dixon, this here's my brother Daryl." Daryl nodded to the woman in recondition, trying to sit up a little straighter. Something about this woman screamed 'no nonsense' behind that giddy smile._

 _"Ah yes!" Her eyes narrowed as she sprung from her seat and to a tall filing cabinet. She sifted through papers, "I was told you may show up, you look just like the picture little Flynn gave me." She had a very sing-song voice._

 _"Flynn?" Daryl said with an eyebrow raised._

 _She stopped for a second, "Don't tell me you didn't even know her name." She smiled and continued ruffling through the files._

 _"We'r just told she was here." Meryl said_

 _The woman took out a thick file and nodded, "Flynn Dixon- O'Connel, very interesting child, though she's been through quite the trama." she added quietly. Gina opened the file and the first thing in it was a picture of the two Dixon boys much younger and smiling at the camera, "She came in with this," she handed the photo over and let out a small laugh, "She said they were her big brothers and was waiting for them to rescue her. She's a sweetheart."_

 _Daryl leaned over the picture Meryl held and couldn't for the life of him remember when this was taken. On the other hand Meryl smiled and chuckled, "Well I'll be damned. Ain't seen this in some time."_

 _Daryl looked up, "Can we see er."_

 _She nodded, "Just need to see some identification." The two gave the picture back then handed over their drivers licenses and she studied each carefully, after looking at each of them and then back to the licenses she smiled again and returned them, "Follow me!"_

 _They entered one of the large archways in the front hallway, there were far fewer children indoors because of the nice weather but it was hard to miss the little girl on the bay window bench. Her hair was a shining shade of orange, roughly chopped short and she was swimming in her dark clothes. They looked like they were the boy's clothes from when they were her age. Dixon hand-me-downs. Her face was impassive while she read a book that looked far more advanced than her suggested reading age, her eyes were half lidded._

 _"I see you spotted her without my help, her hair is quite stunning. Feel free to go speak with her, I will be right back." Gina left the room._

 _The two looked at each other as though daring the other to go up to her first but before they could they heard laughing._

 _"Hey ginger!" a little boy her age threw a ball of paper at her, it hit her in the head and landed between her and her book but she just grabbed it and dropped it so she could keep reading. Cool as a cucumber._

 _Clearly not satisfied, the boy got up, looking angry. Daryl almost went over and scalped the kid but Meryl stopped him and leaned against the wall. The boy approached and tried to pry the book out of her hands so after a short tug-of-war she pulled extra hard then let go so the large book hit him right in the nose. He started crying but Flynn worked fast, flipping him over to his stomach, grabbing the book and a ball that was farther away. She placed it in the perfect spot, making sure it was rocking back and forth, then she ran past them, "Ms. Gina! Sean fell, he's crying!"_

 _"What? What happened Flynn?" The two came back into their line of vision and heard the little girl say he slipped on a ball. The Dixons shared a smirk. After one of the attendants carried the boy out of the room, cooing to get him to stop crying. Gina waved the two over with a smile, crouching next to the little girl, "Flynn, this is Meryl and Daryl Dixon."_

 _The girl gaped and looked up at the two of them like they were 10 feet tall. Daryl couldn't help his smile, his eyes softened uncharacteristically. She had his eyes._

On the road, Flynn had her head on the side of the door. The three had made a wise decision to keep her near a window in case she had to hurl again. Her extra pale face made her thickly laid freckles look like some kind of pox. The window was open so she could cool off. Her spiky orange locks flew gently as they drove.

"Woah, woah, little brother. Where you think yur goin?"

"There's 4 more miles to the next turn."

"Oh no there ain't"

Daryl pulled over and Flynn, reading his mind, grabbed the map from the glove compartment and handed it over, kicking the compartment closed. While the two bickered over the map, Flynn took a deep breath and started feeling better. That is, until she looked in the rear view mirror. Her spine straightened and heart sank. She turned fast in her seat and the road behind them looked lightly speckled with shuffling people, but none of them were too close.

"Guys... guys... seriously."

Her attention was so focused behind her that she only barely heard the leaves rustle next to the car. She looked in time to grab the gun from the back of her pants. The thing, it looked like a young woman but limp with her neck snapped, sped up with a throaty growl. It shoved it's arms into the truck Flynn screamed then turned and pushed herself onto Meryl's lap with her feet on the door, gun aiming at it's head. Her shot hit dead center and Daryl shoved the old truck into drive and they sped away. The thing's arms were hooked on the window so Meryl shoved the it out and they hit it with the back tires. She was panting, shaking and stuck, eyes wide again so Meryl took the gun and set it aside then moved her back into her seat where there was blood spattered on the car door. He kept his hand on her back which was a good thing to focus on rather than what just happened.

Her brothers' speech was just muffled babble. _I'm not shaking as much as I did before, that's good, right?_ She looked down and saw blood on her pant bottoms and boots. It didn't change her state, she just breathed deep hoping to get somewhere safe soon.


	3. Chapter 3

_It was the third time that week that Daryl was looking up at the orphanage, there to visit his sister, 12 visits in total throughout the month. Meryl had no idea he was there, after the first visit Daryl was sure Meryl didn't want to go back any time soon. He figured the possibility of such a responsibility scared the crap out of him. After all his preaching about kin being the most important thing, he leaves their 5 year old half sister in a damn orphanage alone._

 _When he entered, he was given a friendly greeting from the child care aids that were found just about every 10 feet apart from one another. He knew he had to check in with Gina first so he went to the office and knocked. Soon he was greeted with the familiar smile, "Mr. Dixon! Good to see you again, Here to see Flynn again I presume?"_

 _"Yeah, just something I wanted to ask ya first."_

 _Gina gave him a knowing smile and motioned for him to enter the office. At the sound of the door closing, Flynn immediately stopped her reading, She recognized the heavy footfalls of her brother but he had gone into the office instead of the play room. The girl, usually reserved and calm, jumped up from her seat and ran to the archway to the hall to look at the office waiting room. Again Meryl wasn't there but he hadn't said much to her when they met so she didn't think anything of it._

 _She was a little nervous, maybe he was telling her that he wasn't coming by anymore. Though, she thought, why not just stop showing up? She clutched her book, not knowing what to do in this new situation. So she ran up the stairs to her little room and climbed onto her bed. Flynn looked at the cover of her book, "The once and future king", and thought about reading but a wave of sadness at the idea of Daryl leaving her there and never coming back made her put the book down on her bed and hide under the covers. Maybe if he couldn't find her he would have to come back to say goodbye._

 _Meanwhile in the office Daryl spoke words he never thought he would, "So how much would adoption cost?" he avoided her knowledgeable eyes and Gina got up to get Flynn's file again, smile still in place._

 _She had the feeling that he would get to this point eventually but, "I'm wondering why you ask so soon, did you think she could be adopted before you got the chance?"_

 _"Well..."_

 _"Because in her mother's will, custody priority goes to family members. The statute of limitation on her will lasts 2 years to make sure no family members step up for adoption. Also, you should know," She turned, file in hand," With this being a matter of her mother's will, family members can claim custody, no adoption cost."_

 _His eyes widened a bit , "Then what else would it take?"_

 _The filing cabinet made a loud snap closed. Gina sat behind her desk and slapped the file onto it, making Daryl flinch without noticing, "Look," Her smile became a touch devious, "I like you, you're wonderful with Flynn and I've never seen her happier than when you are here. You two seem to have an understanding, that's saying something because she is a bit peculiar, so I'll let you in on a couple secrets."_

 _Daryl sat up straight and leaned over, Gina opened a drawer and took out a pad of paper and a pen, "You need a suitable place of living, I assume you thought of that already." He nodded, Daryl had his eye on a small two bedroom trailer that was actually cheaper than sharing an apartment with Meryl, especially when he skipped out on rent in exchange for his next fix. "Alright, Employment? Or you can apply for governmental assistance"_

 _"Ain't takin no handouts..." he didn't have a steady job, he had been offered one as a mechanic by a friend of a friend, "but I might have somethin."_

 _Gina nodded, scribbling on the pad and reached over her desk for a highlighter, "You will need a letter from your employer and a copy of your lease agreement. Now, I'm going to get you prepped. You see there has to be an inspection of the living conditions by either me or one of my associates." He nodded, "I'm making a list of priority items that will save you some time between inspection and adoption. If you have everything on site, including proof of housing and employment, at the time of inspection they will give you approval on the spot and you can come pick her up!" She said, very perky while still writing down a list._

 _When she finished, she reached into another drawer and pulled out a small booklet on adoption and ripped the paper off the pad._

In the truck, Flynn watched as her brothers chatted with a man in a jeep. He was one of many in a caravan of people. She overheard a little but what she did hear was that the military had bombed and napalmed the streets of Atlanta and now were heading to a safe place to make up a camp. She hoped they would be joining them, being with Meryl during the Apocalypse would only be tolerable with others to dilute his big personality, despite Flynn's lack of social skills.

Soon, the two turned back to the car and Meryl gave her a smile and a thumbs up. She sighed with relief and relaxed in her seat, that is until she saw Meryl grab Daryl by the sleeve and whispered something to him, he nodded and they got back into the truck, keeping her in the middle this time.

"So we're going with them?" She asked, suspicious of that whispering. She loved her brothers but she was painfully aware of Meryl's instability and Daryl's weakness for bending to his brothers will with no question.

"That's right kiddo, headin to a Quarry they found on a map nearby." Meryl said sliding into his seat.

Daryl nodded at her for her attention, "Buckle up." She nodded and did so. They joined the caravan and soon they were driving up a sloping road up to a wide open spot great for setting up a camp and leaving room for the many different people and families that were in the group. There were a few things she was anxious about but the many new people and her reserved nature didn't scare her as much as the vast diversity throughout the camp and Meryl's (for lack of a better word) jackassery.

Meryl hopped out immediately to stretch out but before Flynn could get out Daryl held her back. He handed her the gun Meryl had set side, that he had gotten at the hospital, "You keep this on ya, alright? Don't take no shit, we dunno these people." She knew how to carry a gun, she was a good shot, proven by their recent experience with what their new group called a Walker. When Daryl had taken her out to shoot for the first time the nine year old memorized the safety handbook. It was all still in her head, all the rules and tips floating about as well as her brother's incredulous look while shaking his head at her as she read.

So she slipped the gun into the waistband of her baggy black pants and covered it with her grey tee shirt before exiting the vehicle. She observed the camp in through detail through her usually half lidded gaze and when people waved she would nod back, pleasantries weren't on the top of her priority list. She got a lot of awkward stares, she didn't know what to chalk it up to, her hair, her bandages or the all time favorite; trying to figure out what gender she was.

Giving the orders was the cop from the jeep and next priority was to make up a fire for each individual family that wanted one to themselves. Meryl said they would share with the rest of the camp so she collected firewood then sat herself into the middle, making sure nothing in the area could catch fire. She collected some tinder made up of some dry crunchy leaves and whistled at Meryl across camp. He turned and tossed her his lighter, sometimes it confused her how well she and her brothers knew each other but she tried not to question it.

She took the sticks she had gathered and made them into a kind of cone around the tinder. By now she was gathering attention because while Shane was giving everyone his expertise, she had gone expertly to business. Daryl and Meryl were unpacking their camping equipment, it was lucky they were in drifting mode when this happened. A woman gave her some bigger logs and watched as Flynn made a small tower, log cabin style. While she worked lighting the kindling the woman crouched and smiled, offered her hand, "I'm Andrea, You're with Meryl and Daryl right?"

Flynn straightened and blinked at her hand, hesitating, "Yeah... Flynn." She didn't shake her hand, just shied away. Andrea's smile dropped a bit but she kept trying.

"Well if you get bored with the guys, remember me and my sister Amy," She pointed her out and the younger blond waved while organizing their campsite, "We're always up for some girl-talk." She gave Flynn a comforting smile.

Flynn smirked in her head, but looked confused, "You think I'm a girl?"

Andrea's smile was gone, "O-oh my god, I'm so sorry, I just-"

Flynn smirked, diverting her eyes, "I'm kidding"

Andrea smiled, mouth wide open and gave Flynn a little shove which was met with a laugh as the fire began to grow quickly. Flynn was perfectly herself in tiny groups but she blocked off and got cold more and more depending on the amount of people or who she was talking to. Having raised her, Daryl knew this and was glad she was opening up to someone here but he was weary. He would always look after her with ferocity if need be and like he said, they didn't know these people.

At the end of the day, they gathered around the fire with some cans of food and plates all around and not much was said. Flynn was helping herself to a can of cold Spaghetti O's and Daryl was as quiet as he usually is in groups. So a nice woman next to her named Jacque turned to her, trying to break the ice and asked, "So, are they your fathers?" Both Dixon men choked on their food and Flynn couldn't help herself from laughing. "Oh god, I'm sorry." The woman said with a little smile behind her hand as the rest of their campfire group laughed mildly.

Unfortunately Meryl took it completely personally, "Listen here, ya lil bitch, we ain't no fags. She's our sister." It killed the mood, Flynn shook her head at him, and before he could say anything else the former police officer from the jeep, Shane, interrupted.

"Maybe we need some introductions."


	4. 29 Days Later

The foliage around them tinted the dirt ground a deep green and the light filtering through gaps in the leaves teased glimmering gold as the leaves danced. It shined on the tree's dead predecessors and was lightly tread on by two silent hunters. One, a large man in jeans and a threadbare sleeveless shirt. The other lead the two as they crouched between trees, spacing becoming more scarce as they moved. The smaller figure wore a leather and cloth hooded vest reminiscent of the video game Assassin's Creed, baggy hood coming to a point at her nose and shading her eyes. Each carried weighty crossbow, several bolts, a large hunting knife as well as a length of rope holding about a dozen or so squirrels.

Flynn, the leader of this particular trip, motioned for a stop then for her brother to stay put. He watched her back as they both stooped lower. Flynn made her way to a short tree with a v and stood, peering through it. She was directly in line to shoot the large doe in a small clearing quite a distance from her. She looked through her scope, the doe was eating grass, it's side exposed to her but Flynn wanted to make sure the animal didn't suffer.

So she aimed pointedly at a spot above the doe's neck, looked at a leaf next to it to check the wind and once the leaf fell, Flynn made a click with her tongue. The doe straightened in her direction and she took the shot.

Flynn closed her eyes and heard the thud before her bowstring even stopped vibrating. She looked back through the scope; bulls eye. She smirked to herself and turned to Daryl who was shaking his head, "Why bother with all that fancy crap, just point and shoot the thing." he said as they both got up and stretched out.

Flynn dusted herself off and slung her bow onto her back, crisscrossing on her chest with the strap of a very plain dark grey bag, "Sometimes you need to take the time to hit the right spot." She walked through the trees, Daryl on her heels, "Timing." She said to herself. She heard a huff of a laugh behind her.

The two made their way carefully down the steep slope of forest until they got to a more agreeable incline. Flynn figured they were almost to the doe when she snagged her thin black sleeve on a notch in a tree and it tore a new hole into it, "Shoot." she surveyed the damage.

"Don't know why you bother with them sleeves, neither." Daryl said under his breath while he passed her. He also peered over quick to make sure she didn't cut herself. Her skin was almost paper white against the black fabric. A child's scream sounded not far from them.

She sighed "Well," She started walking behind him again and continued solemnly, "I'd hate to have survived living in the woods, drinking questionable water and successfully avoiding a virus that comes from a single bite by creatures that outnumber human population," She took a breath," to be taken down by basal cell carcinoma." Her eyes were half lidded as her brother looked back at her in confusion, "Common skin cancer."

"Don't talk like that." he said with a glare. He turned and kept moving, "Everything's gunna be fine." He said with finality. It was like he was trying to be ignorant just for her sake. His words didn't change the probabilities in her head. All the numbers flew around her mind, taunting her imminent death or the death of her brothers. Maybe they were in Daryl's head too.

'But there are fates worse than death.'

Finally Daryl peered out from a large boulder, "Shit" "God damn" She heard others say, she stepped around and glared at them, "Nice to see you too."

"Fuck!" Daryl yelled at the deer, completely ruined by a beheaded walker , "We been tracking that bitch for days!"

"It's a doe, Daryl, a bitch is a dog." Flynn said, Daryl shoved her before she smiled and took her bolt from the deer's skull with an unsavory sound. She wiped it off with the navy rag in her back pocket. Daryl was speaking to Shane about maybe salvaging the deer, then throwing a tantrum at the walker that ruined it. Flynn ignored them all with an impassive expression, even the new guy she had observed in a split second, and went to Glenn, "Welcome back"

"You too, we got in yesterday." he scratched the back of his head, "Sorry about your deer."

"It's fine, can't win them all."

Daryl shot a bolt into the undead's head and Flynn walked backwards to retrieve it for him, holding the walker in place with her boot. She handed it back to him and said, "Come on Daryl, Meryl's back." then walked off in stride, just barely noticing Glenn's quiet,"Ahh...well..."

Shane matched their pace until they were at the RV, "Daryl, Man, we gotta talk." her brother turned but Flynn took the time to study the faces around them. Some guilt but mostly pity.

"Meryl's gone." She said, looking over her shoulder at her, possibly only, brother. Her mind numbed and she looked stuck staring at the ground.

Daryl looked around at the others in the group, "This true?"

"Maybe."

"Either it is or it ain't!"

Maybe, Flynn thought, so either he left them or they left him and she knew he wouldn't leave without the two of them so, "You left him somewhere?!" She turned on Shane and pushed Daryl aside a bit.

"What!" Daryl tried to get past Flynn but she held him steady.

"Look," Said the new guy, "There's no easy way to say this..."

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl said by her ear, Flynn still keeping him from mauling Shane.

"Rick Grimes."

Flynn's eyes narrowed, "Husband or brother?"

"Lori's my wife-"

"No, you are her husband, that's what I asked." Her Dixon temper was slowly rising. Unlike her brothers, it manifested in more passive aggressive ways. Angry smart ass was the hat she was wearing currently.

"Well-"

"Just tell me where he is so I can go fetch 'im!" Daryl stepped forward and Flynn let him go this time and slid her hood off, running her fingers through her hair with a very large sigh and walking away.

"He'll show you, won't you Rick?" Lori piped up from the door of the RV, arms crossed.

There was a pause, "Yes, I will." Lori stormed into the RV.

She looked over at Andrea, ignoring Lori's attitude despite it being her idea, since she was on the run as well and was in the closest proximity to her, "You let this happen?"

She didn't get to speak, Rick interrupted, "It isn't her fault, your brother was a danger to us all." He looked her square in the face.

"Of course he was!" She yelled, gesturing widely, "He was high, it was obvious!" She turned back on Andrea, "I told you that." Then spun around to Glenn, "And you. I said put him as a point guard, make it out like a really important job then let him ramble on like he does and get out!"

"He got onto the roof somehow and started shooting walkers on the ground, like it was for fun." Glenn said, he looked sorry and exasperated, "He was attracting them from everywhere!"

"Never mind all that," Said T-dog, "It's my fault he's still there. I had the key and I dropped it."

"Couldn't pick up?!" Daryl took a step at him.

"I dropped it in a drain."

Flynn closed and pressed her palms to her eyes then stomped off to her tent, grumbling, to get some supplies. An extra hunting knife, some lock picks, and the handgun she arrived at camp with. Daryl made a passing lunge at Rick and she ignored the following fight while stowing gear and holstering the second knife. It was inevitable, but what was he expecting? she thought, trying to attack two cops.

Soon the conversation changed to the logistics of the mission at hand. Rick was leading them, followed by Daryl, Glen and T-Dog but when she moved towards the van Shane wildly interrupted, "Oh no. No no no. Flynn is not goin' anywhere."

"Shane, she's his sister." Rick defended her right to the trip, that's interesting, she thought.

"No no, she ain't just his sister Rick," He moved closer to his friend pointing at the RV, "She put workin' solar on the RV with pieces of junk, she hunts, she has more medical knowledge than all of us put together twice. We can't spare Flynn; and god forbid she gets hurt-"

"I'm touched, really I am, at your preference to save your human computer," She jumped into the cube van and crouched down,"but I'm going." She had a sickly sweet smile on her face with a little crazy in her eyes.

"Daryl," Shane huffed, "You can't be on board with this, I know you can't."

"I ain't but I know she'll find some way there with or without us. Rather know where she is. And any more arguin' bout it and she'll kick your teeth in."

She pointed her thumb at her brother, "This is true." She got up and pulled her hood back over her eyes. They could hear Shane complaining, even after closing the cube van door.

Daryl looked at T-dog as the engine came to life, "He better be alright, that's all I gotta say on the matter."

Flynn slid down the wall to the floor and closed her eyes, stick to the facts, she thought, keep focused. When she opened her eyes, there was fire and a new resolve as the van shook it's way from camp.


	5. Coming: The Next Day

Hello,

I'm returning to this story, I wholeheartedly admit **i wrote myself into a corner** so there will be a very small time jump past the Vatos and zombie night. When I publish it, make sure to give it a read because I'm sure of how to restart this and I have planned scenes very far in advance. I really want those to get out on here so stick with me.

Looking forward to the reads!

M


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